Costco is a beloved brand in the United States: one in three people in the U.S. shop there. This is, in part, because Costco has a commitment to low prices. In a time when groceries and household goods are skyrocketing, Costco’s famous hot dog remains the same price it has been since 1985: $1.50.
Costco is also popular because, in general, Costco continues to follow its own motto and “do the right thing.” In the grand scheme of very large American corporations, Costco seems to be a pretty good company. It’s committed to net zero emissions by 2050, and to equity and inclusion, when many other companies are abandoning their commitments to diversity. And, Costco pays their workers a decent wage. However, we can’t thank Costco entirely for these policies and practices. We also must give credit to Costco members, shareholders, and employees for standing up and taking action. Constituencies that Costco cares about have played a key role in getting Costco to do the right thing.
That’s why for the past year, tens of thousands of Costco members have been encouraging Costco to get a better credit card partner. Right now, Costco has a credit card partnership with Citibank. Citibank is not only the largest funder of fossil fuel expansion in the world over the last ten years, Citibank also just recently dissolved its diversity and equity initiatives, increased its overall fossil fuel funding, and decided to leave the Net Zero Banking Alliance, an important alliance that was established to unite banks in aligning their lending, investment and capital markets activities to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
If Costco considers itself an ethical company, it should do business with other ethical companies, not ones like Citibank that are fueling the flames of climate chaos. Costco members and shareholders can encourage Costco to partner with a bank that actually represents the values Costco wants to align with.
Unlike Costco, Citibank shows a disregard for marginalized communities.
In January 2025, after a recommendation by Costco’s board of trustees, 98% of Costco’s shareholders voted to keep Costco’s diversity and equity initiatives, restating its ethical values. Just weeks following Costco’s vote, Citibank dissolved its own diversity and equity initiatives. This is not the first time Citibank has shown a disregard for marginalized communities. From 2015 to 2021, Citibank intentionally and illegally discriminated against Armenian Americans in applications for credit card products. In addition to this, Citibank’s funding of fossil fuels disproportionately harms low-income communities of color.
Citibank is one of the largest funders of the fossil fuel industry in the world, undermining Costco’s own climate commitments.
Costco has remained committed to climate action ever since shareholders requested that Costco adopt climate targets in 2022. It has established and continued to report on science-based net zero by 2050 emissions targets for its entire value chain. Citibank, on the other hand, is one of the largest funders of fossil fuel expansion between 2016-2023 and just recently left the Net Zero Banking Alliance. In late December 2024, a Citi-funded oil company, Petroperú, was found responsible for oil spills that are polluting fishing communities on the Peruvian coast. And Citi continues to fund the expansion of the LNG industry which is polluting and killing predominantly low-income and Black communities in the Gulf South. This year’s annual Banking on Climate Chaos report revealed that Citi increased its fossil fuel financing by an estimated $14.9B between 2023 and 2024, the second most of any bank profiled in the report. In order to hit their Net Zero targets, banks need to be decreasing their overall fossil fuel financing, not increasing it.
Costco has chosen to do the right thing after key constituencies took action.
In January 2022, 70% of Costco shareholders’ voted for a resolution that called on Costco to adopt science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. That November, Costco did exactly that. In 2024, after the threat of another resolution from the Green Century Fund, Costco announced that it would adopt a comprehensive deforestation assessment and action plan for its Kirkland Signature brand. In 2025, only after the Teamsters Union threatened to strike, Costco raised the hourly pay for most of its workers in the U.S. to $30/hr. Looking at all of this, a pattern emerges: With the right amount of advocacy and pressure from key constituencies like shareholders or workers, Costco is a company that can live up to its motto and “do the right thing.”
Costco can choose a better credit card partner.
More than 45,000 people, almost half of whom are Costco’s own members, have joined together to raise their concerns about Costco’s partnership with Citibank. And we’ve made progress: after a year of voicing concerns in creative and fun ways (including talking to warehouse managers, filling out Costco feedback forms, petitioning at warehouses, writing postcards to leadership, and demonstrating outside of both Citibank and Costco), Costco’s CEO agreed to meet with a small group of Costco members and shareholders.
Costco leadership have remained open to hearing our concerns and recently communicated our concerns to Citibank (which is a big deal!). However, Costco hasn’t committed to any concrete steps to actually clean up their credit card relationship with Citibank. In order to move Costco to act, we need to make it visible to Costco that members and shareholders and employees are concerned about Citi’s fossil fuel funding and want a greener credit card partner.
A credit card issued by a better, greener bank could actually be good for Costco’s business. Gen Z and Millennials are now the majority of Costco’s new membership base. Studies show that 71% of Millennials say climate should be a top priority to ensure a sustainable planet for future generations. Shoppers who are concerned about their future are not going to want a credit card that is only making that future look increasingly more bleak by contributing to the destruction of the planet. Luckily, there are better options. For example, Synchrony bank
which issues the credit card for Sam’s Club, a Costco competitor, does not fund fossil fuels. In the meantime, Costco members can use any Visa credit card to pay at Costco, and you can find better credit card choices here (and tips for making the switch).